Isolation
by TheNinthCircleofHell
Summary: Set before Isaac’s group meets Felix’s group. Isaac and Mia get separated from Garet and Ivan and have to travel alone. How will things work out? -*Obvious really*- :D Mudshipping, IsaacxMia. -AU-
1. Desire

This is my first shipping fic and also my first multi-chapter fic. I have almost no experience in writing these so I'm counting on the sheer number of these I've read to get me anywhere.

I was originally planning to do the typical thing and release this on Valentine's Day, but I got bored waiting.

Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun, or there'd be more Golden Sun games than Final Fantasy games, including spin-offs. Not this 'We're _thinking_ about _planning_ a third game.'  
......at least a third game should be coming..... anytime now...... please?

* * *

Isolation

Chapter 1- Desire

_She was so beautiful, so pure. Her long, blue hair, stroking her soft cheeks as it waved in the wind; her slender figure, outlined by the bulky fur cloak she wore; her pale, unblemished face that seemed to glow with compassion; all entranced him._

Isaac glanced yet again at their group's recent addition. He couldn't help himself. No matter how hard he tried to prioritise the mission, his thoughts had always ended up trailing back to the sweet-faced healer. The more he tried to focus on anything else, the harder it became for him to keep his thoughts from returning to her. It was almost as if his infatuation had grown since they had started travelling that morning.

When he, Garet and Ivan had first met her in Imil, he had been stunned, barely able to speak. He had been caught completely off guard. They had just walked into the house of the old couple.

"_How are you feeling?"_

It was there he'd caught sight of her. He remembered her kind, thoughtful expression as she spoke to the old man, her voice laced with concern.

"_It's going to be fine. You'll be feeling better in no time."_

She had lowered her hands delicately, resting them on the frail old man's forehead and closed her eyes. He immediately recognised the rings of psyenergy that surrounded her as she cured the old man. Her hands shone, bathing her figure in blue light. To him, she had seemed ethereal.

Afterwards, they had helped her through the Mercury Lighthouse, solving the lighthouse's many mysteries. Together, they had defeated Saturos upon the lighthouse aerie and then... Alex. Complete shock had registered across Mia's face at the sight of her former apprentice.

"_It's been a long time, Mia."_

Alex's cool voice had echoed around the lighthouse. Mia had stared at him, overwhelmed, rendered almost completely speechless as he lifted up Saturos, supporting the enemy who had just attacked them.

"_You're not going to get away with this Alex!"_

Garet had dashed forward but there was a burst of psynergy and Alex warped himself and Saturos away in the direction of the elevator. He smiled lightly.

"_Just watch me."_

"_A- Alex? W-What..... why....?"_

Mia had finally managed to stutter out a few words. Alex had glanced up and stared directly into Mia's eyes, his face slipping into an expressionless mask.

"_Sorry Mia, but I can't remain the same Alex you knew forever."_

She stared at him in horror. He had gazed backwards as the elevator had risen.

"_I guess this is where we make our farewells. I look forward to seeing you all again."_

The group had watched hopelessly as Alex and Saturos descended the lighthouse elevator to safety. There was silence, and then....

"_Please, let me join you.... I- I need to stop Alex!"_

Isaac, Garet and Ivan had all stared at her in astonishment.

"_But what about the people of Imil?"_

"_They should be fine; now that the lighthouse has been lit, the Water of Hermes should be flowing at the lighthouse entrance. Please.... we can't let Alex get away with this."_

He remembered the pleading look in her eyes, but there was something else he couldn't recognise. Was it determination? Fear? Sadness? He had felt so sorry for her, being betrayed by a member of her own clan. The overwhelming desire to comfort her, hold her in his arms-

"Hey Isaac! Try to keep your eyes in your head!"

It was Garet. Isaac, surprised, realizing that he had been staring at Mia again hurriedly shook his head.

"W-What are you talking about?" stuttered Isaac, feigning ignorance.

_Has it really been that obvious?_

Garet grinned. "Aww, c'mon, no need to hide it. You've been eyeballing that girl since we left Imil! Seriously, just tell her!"

"Garet!" Isaac quickly glanced at Mia to make sure she hadn't noticed his exclamation. She was busy chatting with Ivan. "I don't-"

"As if! It could hardly be any more obvious. Go on, just chat her up or something!"

"Seriously Garet, you're just imagining it!" said Isaac, desperately attempting to preserve any sense of self-dignity.

"Why are you bothering to even deny it? You know as well as I do it's the truth!"

"Umm.... is this a bad time?"

Mia stood timidly to the side of their argument. At the sound of her voice, Isaac whipped around fast, tripping over his own feet.

"Oof!" Isaac fell backwards, landing heavily on his back.

"Oh!" exclaimed Mia, a concerned look crossing her face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry.... you just...... shocked me."

Grinning sheepishly as red tinge of embarrassment crept across his face, Isaac pulled himself back onto his feet and began walking again.

"So..... um..... what do you want?" Isaac asked in a voice that he hoped sounded casual.

"Oh, Ivan said that you had something to discuss with me."

Isaac glanced behind Mia and caught the grin Ivan was passing to Garet as the pair of them walked away.

_I'm going to kill them.... _

"Um.... Isaac?" Mia tilted her head questioningly.

"Uh..... I just thought you should know..... that we'll be setting up camp soon." Isaac improvised.

"Oh..... okay....."

The pair walked on in silence. Isaac tried staring straight ahead but continued to glance at her every so often when he was certain she wasn't watching. He wondered how anybody could be so graceful, so seemingly flawless. At the same time, self-conscious ate into him; she was walking so closely beside him. His movements felt slow and clumsy. He felt light-headed. But it was the silence that seemed to weigh the most heavily on his mind; he felt a _need_ to break the tension it created.

He tried working up a conversation.

"Mia, can I do or get you anything that'll make you feel more comfortable? You did sort of join us at short notice."

Mia glanced up and gave him a nervous smile. His stomach felt like it was doing a back flip.

"Thanks Isaac," she murmured. "But there wasn't really much to take care of before I left. Neither was there much to pack. Megan and Justin are quite responsible, despite their age."

"Ah, okay then...."

They fell silent and the tension descended again.

Garet and Ivan were walking a distance behind the pair, watching on.

"Gah! At this rate, they're never going to get together!" Garet complained.

"So are you sure that he likes Mia?" asked Ivan.

"Ivan, have you ever seen Issac act so awkwardly around another person before? Around Mia he just falls to bits! As his friends, it's our duty to help him!"

"I guess you know him better than I do. So.... do you have any ideas?"

"..... uh.... I was sorta hoping you'd have a few actually...."

"Why would you think that?" queried Ivan.

Garet shrugged. "I dunno, don't you ever pick up any tips with all that mind reading you do?"

"Well, since I've spent most of my life living with old merchants who only really think about money, no, not really."

"Drat. Never mind then."

"Let's just wait and see how things work out for now. You can never tell."

* * *

Like I may have mentioned on my profile at some point, writing all this really didn't seem to come naturally to me. I'm hoping that the more I write, the easier it'll become, and I'll be able to make it flow more smoothly.

Rather than re-enacting the scene on the lighthouse in perfect detail with the exact game script or something, I changed it around slightly. Essentially the same things do end up happening, but little extras, such as Garet attempting to stop Alex, were created to add extra emotion to it. Rather than _changing_ the story, I prefer the term 'adding more detail'.

And yes, the plan is they do get separated from Garet and Ivan eventually, but that'll happen in a chapter or two.

READ AND REVIEW, seriously, it takes like a second.


	2. Reminiscence

Hey guys! I _finally_ got around to the second chapter! Sorry it took a while. Laziness, procrastination, hilariously slow writing speeds and school have all played major roles in the delay. Yeah, sorry again.

Anyway, on with the story! I hope (but doubt) it was worth the wait! ^_^

Disclaimer: Camelot owns Golden Sun, and I own less than nothing. Yeah, that's right. I actually owe a bunch of really shady guys some money....... a lot of money......... They're going to take my thumbs o.O

* * *

Chapter 2- Reminiscence

"Gah! I'm exhausted!" exclaimed Garet, collapsing backwards onto the grass.

Isaac rolled his eyes. "Garet, you've been the only one complaining about tiredness for the entire trip! Couldn't you at least try to keep up with us?"

Isaac's exasperation had been well-founded. This had been the fifth time Garet had held up the group for a rest. It wasn't even as if it had been particularly hot either; the adepts had, for the last few hours, been walking through one of the relatively cool, shady forests that dotted the area.

Ivan grinned. "He wouldn't be so tired if he hadn't insisted that he personally haul all the food we bought from Bilibin with him."

"Well, none of you would know how to take proper care of food," Garet muttered, protectively holding several bulging bags of food to his chest.

"Seriously, why did we even need to bring that much anyway!?"

Garet had already started pulling out a packet of biscuits.

"That's obvious Isaac. You need to keep up your energy for the journey," he said, munching loudly.

"Not if you're wasting it by dragging all that around with you!"

"You know," stated Ivan, watching as Garet begin to also pull out a loaf of bread. "We probably still don't have enough."

"Jeez Ivan," grumbled Garet. "You don't have to be so harsh..."

It had been two days since the group had left Bilibin for Kolima. Even without Garet's obsessive demands for sustenance, it would have been a stressful place. The villagers had been friendly enough, but there had been an underlying sense of uneasiness. The mysterious tree at the village entrance that had apparently been a man at one point was putting everyone on edge.

The village leader, Lord McCoy, had been annoyingly patronising about handing over the key to the Bilibin barricade. Admittedly though, it had been understandable as the warriors they had sent to Kolima Forest had disappeared. Still, the delay had bothered Isaac greatly.

His wife on the other hand, Lady McCoy, had been a plain arrogant, selfish woman who, from what the adepts had gathered, had started the entire curse. According to many of the villagers, the curse had begun right after she had begun ordering large amounts of Kolima Forest wood for the sake of building her personal palace.

Isaac had also discovered just how serious Garet was about pulling him and Mia together. Twice, he had caught Garet attempting to lock them together in the same room and, to their shared embarrassment, had told about half the people in Bilibin that they were an item. Although Ivan did tend to stick to the sidelines, Isaac noticed that he and Garet always seemed to be plotting something together. What really worried Isaac was that all the pranks pulled so far had a definite Garet-ish feel, and whatever sinister plan Ivan seemed to be conceiving had yet to come.

On the plus side, although Isaac would never admit it openly, Garet's constant teasing had forged a stronger bond between him and Mia, even if it was only because of the mutual suffering Garet had put them through. He had found himself spending long periods of time just talking with her, sharing stories, discussing anything that came to mind. He began finding her constant presence in the group reassuring.

Of course, he thought to himself exasperatedly, that wasn't to say that his infatuation over her had lessened even in the slightest.

"It's getting dark anyway. Maybe we should just set up camp here," Mia suggested.

"We may as well," said Ivan, dumping his own set of bags onto the grass.

"But-"

"Aw, come on Isaac," Garet complained. "We'll never catch Saturos and Menardi if you keep pushing us this hard. Everyone needs a rest."

"Garet's right, Isaac," Mia added in. "How can you expect catch them, let alone fight them, if you continually exhaust yourself like this?"

Isaac sighed, acknowledging the sense behind her words.

"Fine... we'll camp here," he grumbled.

Garet stood up and placed a reassuring hand on Isaac's shoulder. "Just think about it this way, Isaac; they have to drag old Kraden along with them! We'll catch up with them in no time!"

"Garet, don't you ever show any respect to your elders?" asked Mia, shaking her head.

"Well, he is really old. I'm surprised he's managed to travel this far already!" muttered Garet.

They all started unpacking and setting up camp. Isaac began pulling out the tent he had bought while in Imil, as did the others. He smiled, feeling the warm, thick fabric of the tent. As the Imilian tents had been made with the local weather in mind, they were always nice and toasty inside. They were also comfortably roomy, despite each tent being made to fit only one person.

Isaac finished setting up his tent and looked around. It was getting dark. He stood up, stretching.

"I'll go look for some firewood," he said nonchalantly.

"'Kay," replied Ivan lazily.

"Don't take too long," Mia added in, smiling warmly at him. He looked at her adorable, innocent face and felt the usual flipping sensation in his stomach.

"It's fine, it shouldn't take that long," he said as casually as he could. He walked off.

A few moments later, Garet pulled himself onto his feet.

"Eh, there's nothing to do here anyway... I'll go help him."

With that, Garet strode off into the forest after Isaac.

* * *

"Hey Isaac," Garet called out. "Want any help?"

Isaac turned around as Garet walked up to him.

"Oh, hey Garet. Thanks. Can you help drag this log back to camp? It won't move at all."

"Sure thing!"

The pair began heaving at the log but even with Garet's help couldn't budge it. Eventually, they gave up. Isaac leant back, breathing heavily.

"We should probably try to find a lever or something," he said, exhausted.

"Let's just have a breather for now," suggested Garet. "We'll come back to it later."

Isaac nodded and leant back on a nearby tree. It was so peaceful, so quiet out here in the woods. He closed his eyes, contentment taking hold of his body...

"... So, Isaac. How're things going with Mia?" asked Garet slyly.

Isaac groaned.

"Jeez, Garet. Not this again. When are you going to stop pestering me about her?" he replied, exasperated.

"When you admit that you like her and tell her how you feel. C'mon Isaac, this is for your own good!" exclaimed Garet.

"Garet, for the last time, I don't like her! Even if I did, and I'm not saying I do, we need to stop Saturos and Menardi and rescue Jenna, Kraden and Felix before they manage to light anymore of the Lighthouses!" he exclaimed. "We don't have time for this!"

He knew he was contradicting his own feelings for Mia, but he really had to try and find some way to shut Garet up. Besides, in a sad way he knew he was right; they really had no time. The very fate of the world hinged on their actions. And even if they managed to stop Saturos and Menardi, he thought to himself glumly, Mia would then return to Imil. His affection for her would mean nothing.

"So what you're saying is that even if you liked her, you still wouldn't try getting together with her?"

"Exactly," confirmed Isaac.

"Well that's a real shame, because I think she likes you," said Garet matter-of-factly.

"That's.... what?" Isaac stopped in midsentence, eyes widening. She liked him? No... he couldn't be serious...

"That's right," said Garet, grinning. "And you might have noticed if you weren't so busy hiding it yourself. Haven't you ever wondered why she always seems to talk to you more than either me or Ivan, or why it's always you she comes to when she needs any help?"

"Y-You're lying," Isaac said uncertainly. Not even once had he considered the possibility that she liked him back. He didn't consider himself to be particularly unattractive, but he had never thought of being the kind of guy she'd like. The idea shook him.

"Sure, whatever, you know I'm right," replied Garet, grinning.

* * *

The adepts sat in a circle around a crackling fire, contently rubbing their stomachs.

"Wow Mia that was great!" belched Garet.

"Yeah!" agreed Isaac. "Where'd you learn how to cook like that?"

Mia blushed at the unexpected praise.

"I'm glad you liked it... it was nothing really though. Just traditional Imilian stew," she replied, smiling. "Of course I didn't have all the original ingredients...... but I guess with cooking you can learn to improvise."

"Marry me," said Garet suddenly.

Mia laughed, as did everyone else.

"Actually, that stew reminded me of the ones the serving ladies would make for us back in Kalay," Ivan remarked, patting his belly in a satisfied manner. "Very filling."

"What was it like in Kalay, Ivan?" asked Isaac curiously.

"Kalay was..." Ivan grin began to fade and he trailed off.

Isaac looked at Ivan quizzically. A sombre, thoughtful expression occupied Ivan's face.

"Hey, Ivan!" exclaimed Garet, grabbing Ivan's attention. "What's up?

Ivan looked up at Garet and forced a small smile.

"It's nothing... it's just that Kalay was a bit of a lonely place for me."

"But isn't Kalay one of the larger towns?" asked Garet.

"I don't think that's the point he's trying to make," murmured Mia.

"Yeah..." responded Ivan. "It's not that Hammet or Layana were unkind to me or anything. They treated me like a son. It's just... psynergy tends to separate you from others. I didn't really have any close friends back in Kalay. The villagers all thought I was a bit of a weirdo."

"Why would they think that?" asked Garet curiously. "You're not that strange."

Ivan shrugged. "Here, with you guys, I feel like I can be myself. While I was back in Kalay, I'd always know what the villagers were thinking. They didn't actually know I could read their minds but... I guess... some of them found me a bit unnerving."

"I know what you mean, Ivan," said Mia regretfully. "In Imil, our family had always felt separated from everyone else. When... my mother died, I felt as if there was no one left in the entire village who would be able to understand me."

Isaac looked over to Mia. He could see her dejected, cheerless expression illuminated by the fire.

"I'm sorry, Mia," he said softly.

"It's okay, it was years ago. I'm over it... I should be apologising, actually. I shouldn't have brought something like that up," she muttered, looking away. Isaac studied her closely. She didn't seem over it, and the pain in her voice sounded fresh, as if it had happened only a few days ago.

"It's okay," reassured Garet. "So, what about Alex? He could use psynergy too."

"He had... disappeared a few weeks beforehand," she explained softly. "Honestly, I shouldn't have been too surprised. Many of the villagers really seemed to hate him, almost without reason. Some of them were quite cruel."

She stared into the fire, her face a cheerless mask. Isaac stared at her, pity filling his chest as he imagined the bitter memories crossing her mind. The melancholy seemed to be biting into everybody around the fire. Even Garet had quietened down.

_How long had she been alone in Imil for?_

"What about Megan and Justin?" he asked, trying to divert the conversation.

"Oh... that was about a year after Alex had left. They're such sweet kids," said Mia. Isaac noticed a small smile gently growing. "I discovered, quite by accident, how one of their grandparents had been a Mercury clansman. I asked them, and found out that they could both see my psynergy. I've been teaching for the last two years them how to heal so we could all help out the village."

Isaac smiled, relieved they had moved off the topic.

"What was Vale like?" asked Mia suddenly.

"Eh," grunted Garet. "Vale's pretty normal if you ask me. I guess you could say the only difference is all the villagers are adepts and we can't use psynergy when we've got people visiting from other towns."

"That's a pretty big difference," noted Ivan.

Isaac grinned. "I guess it's just what we're used to."

Garet stretched back, yawning.

"Ah well, I don't know about all of you, but I'm getting really sleepy. See ya guys tomorrow."

"Same here...'night guys," muttered Ivan, wandering off to his own tent.

Mia picked herself up as well. "I suppose it is getting late... wake me up when it's my turn for watch duty, okay Isaac?"

"Sure..." replied Isaac. He watched her as she walked towards her tent.

_Does she actually like me?_

He could just ask her directly. He felt his stomach flip at the thought of it, but decided it'd be better if he found out now rather than spend what he knew would be countless hours wondering about it. He called out to her.

"Hey, M-Mia..." he stuttered.

"Yes Isaac?" she asked, turning around.

As she turned to face him, he carefully studied the gentle, open expression that he had come to adore.

_What if she doesn't like me back? What if... I just end up ruining our friendship?_

"...uh... good night, Mia," he ended, giving her a small smile.

She smiled sweetly back at him. "Good night, Isaac."

* * *

"So Garet, did you actually know that Mia liked Isaac as well?" Ivan quietly asked Garet outside the tents.

"No idea, Ivan. No idea."

* * *

Lol, "Desire", "Reminiscence". I come up with the most melodramatic chapter names.

Yeah, nothing I've said in the story summary has actually happened yet, but stuff's going to happen in the next chapter. I was still just setting the scene, I guess.

I took the watch duty idea from 'The Angel and The Slayer'. Having a night watch in general really just made sense to me. Oh yeah, and seriously, if you like mudshipping and haven't read 'The Angel and The Slayer', you really, _really_ need to. That fic is like the embodiment of mudshipping itself.

Actually, looking back I feel I've taken quite a few elements off that fic. I guess when I think of mudshipping, that fic automatically comes off with it. It was seriously good enough to ingrain itself into the very way I think about mudshipping.

By the way, THANK YOU to all my reviewers! In the end, it was your support that finally made me guilty enough to update.

So, whatcha think? Throw your opinion in, leave a review! It's free speech, people!


	3. Separation

Chibi Sadist: *drags NinthCircle back to the computer* You have to finish this at some point!

NinthCircle: BUT IT'S LIKE POISON TO ME!

Chibi Sadist: *ties NinthCircle to chair* _Just finish it_. Exactly how many _months_ have you made these people wait for again?

NinthCircle: *smacking head against table* BUT WHY IS IT SO PAINFUL TO WRITE!?

Chibi Sadist: Probably because you're a dude. _Now finish the job._

NinthCircle: For you people who don't yet know, I don't own Golden Sun. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 3- Separation

Isaac groggily woke up to a chilly morning as exclamations of amazement floated into his tent. He yawned, still sleepy due to watch duty the night before. It had been his turn to watch for danger during the middle of the night. Being neither the first or last person out and therefore being the one who had to have his sleep disturbed, he found himself unsurprisingly tired. As Isaac pulled himself upright, disorientated, Garet poked his head through the opening of the tent.

"Hey Isaac! Check it out!"

Isaac tilted his head to the side questioningly.

"Whaa?" he groaned unintelligently, still half-asleep.

Garet grinned and waved his hands, beckoning Isaac outside. "Just come out and see for yourself!"

With that, he withdrew his head.

_What's he going on about now?_

Isaac slowly pulled himself out from under his blanket and half-crawled out of the tent. His eyes widened in surprise. What had greeted them were incredibly thick blankets of fog stretching all the way along the campsite. He turned his gaze skywards, searching for the sun but finding nothing in the dark, gray blanket of cloud overhead. Amazed, he pulled himself out of the tent.

"The weather around here's really dodgy, huh?" commented Garet, standing outside his tent's entrance. "Yesterday, no one would have guessed that a fog like this could've come over us so quickly."

"Yeah," Ivan added in, striding up to the pair of them. "Though I guess strange weather comes with travelling. Who knows, maybe the locals consider this normal."

"Wow!" The boys turned around as Mia pulled herself out of her tent and appraised her surroundings.

_Even in the morning she looks amazing..._

Isaac gazed at her radiant face, watching as she surveyed the surrounding landscape in wonder. Then she stretched, yawning cutely and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Isaac noticed that she was wearing a light sleeping gown; the thin cotton traced her slender outline closely. Isaac tried averting his eyes, but found them being continually drawn back like a magnet. A red tinge crept up his face.

Suddenly, a grinning Garet nudged him in the side.

"Nice view, right Isaac?" he muttered in his ear.

Isaac flinched. He turned to face Garet and tried to regain some of his composure.

"Jeez Garet, why are you so perverted?" growled Isaac angrily at Garet, although he was similarly annoyed at himself for thinking the same thing. Garet responded by playfully ruffling Isaac's hair.

"Aw, come on Isaac. I'm sure you're enjoying sight just as much as I am," he remarked casually. Isaac just grumbled.

Mia called out to them. "I'll start making breakfast, okay?"

"Sure thing!" replied Garet, happily reminded of Mia's cooking skills.

"I'll help with the ingredients!" answered Ivan.

Mia and Ivan moved off, leaving Isaac and Garet where they were standing.

"Why are you and Ivan so obsessed with playing cupid, anyway?" asked Isaac, exasperated.

"Isaac," Garet responded, suddenly taking a serious tone. Isaac blinked in surprise at the sudden change of voice. "Both of us can see, and I'm sure Mia can as well, how much you're getting wound up about this mission. You can't keep this up all the time. You have to loosen up; you can't keep blaming yourself for what happened in Sol Sanctum."

Isaac stared at Garet disbelievingly.

"We lead Saturos, Menardi and Alex right to the elemental stars!" objected Isaac angrily. "How can you possibly think that it wasn't our fault, Garet!?"

Garet shook his head sadly.

"We had no way of knowing that and Saturos and Menardi were far too strong for us anyway..." muttered Garet. "If I kept thinking it was our fault Jenna and Kraden was taken, I don't think I'd be able to take it."

Garet's eyes locked onto Isaac's. For once, they were completely serious.

"Whatever, I'm getting breakfast," growled Isaac, turning his back to Garet and marching off.

* * *

A few minutes later, the friends were all eating breakfast around the remnants of the previous night's campfire.

"So, what happens now?" asked Ivan, chewing on a slice of bread from Bilibin.

"What do you mean, Ivan?" Garet asked.

"Well, are we going to travel in this fog or not? It could be pretty dangerous; we could get lost, we could get attacked; many things could happen," Ivan remarked.

"You're right," added Mia. "Maybe we should wait for this to all clear up first."

"No," muttered Isaac, speaking for the first time since he began eating. "We can't allow ourselves to fall behind Saturos and Menardi. That should be our top priority. We have to stop them before them can light any more of the lighthouses.

From the corner of his eyes, Isaac glimpsed as Garet and Ivan shot each other meaningful looks.

_They think I should loosen up? How can they expect me to do that? Why should I? This isn't some game. This is serious!_

"If that's what you think we should do, Isaac," replied Mia, a concerned look crossing her face.

Ivan sighed, reached behind himself and pulled out a tightly-wrapped scroll of parchment. He untied it and carefully spread it out, revealing a detailed map of Angara. It was one of the maps from Hammet's palace, carefully planned out and easy to understand. It was intended to assist merchants from Kalay in trading, but Hammet had given Ivan one for his studies.

He glanced over the map for a couple of seconds. "Okay then, from how far we travelled east yesterday, I'd say we are around here at the moment," concluded Ivan, pointing to a forested area just after the Bilibin barricade, which they had broken through yesterday using psynergy instead of using the key Lord McCoy had refused to give them.

"So from here we should follow the lake edge north-east to Kolima, right?" continued Isaac.

"Right," confirmed Ivan.

"Then let's get ready to go." Isaac stood up, moved over to his tent and began packing up his belongings. Garet, Ivan and Mia followed suit.

* * *

"Stay close," muttered Ivan, glancing around at his companions. "This fog doesn't seem like lifting anytime soon."

Everyone nodded and continued silently moving forward. The adepts had been travelling with barely any sense of direction for the whole morning now. The only real reference they had was the quiet sounds of the lake water washing against the shore to their side.

Suddenly, the ground under Ivan's feet gave way.

"Woah!" exclaimed Ivan, sliding down a sudden decline to their left. The adepts heard a splash as Ivan tumbled into the lake.

"Ivan! Are you okay!?" Mia called out, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm just fine!" Ivan yelled back sarcastically from the shallow lake edge. "Great, I'm soaked..."

"I'm coming down!" Garet declared, cautiously feeling his was down to the shore.

"Hey Garet! Not so fast!" shouted Isaac as Garet followed Ivan into the fog.

"It's fine, Isaac!" Garet hollered back.

Garet carefully slide down to the lake edge.

"Here Ivan, take my ha-"

Suddenly, a volley of terrifying howling cut through the fog. All the adepts froze where they were, falling completely silent. Isaac's eyes widened in fear as the outline of a pack of animals came into view.

_Wolves._

"Run!" shouted Isaac, instantly realising how risky it would be to fight such animals with almost no visibility. All the adepts fled. Isaac and Mia ran further towards the direction of Kolima. Isaac briefly heard Garet and Ivan splashing away back towards Bilibin. The pack of wolves hesitated for a moment as their prey fled in different directions. Then they split, four of the wolves giving chase after Isaac and Mia while the other three disappeared into the mist after Garet and Ivan.

Isaac and Mia ran blindly forward through the fog, stumbling and tripping. Isaac felt the heavy luggage on his back weighing him down as their pursuers rapidly closed the distance between them. He felt adrenalin rush through him, hearing the ever-approaching sounds of scuffling and growling. Before long, he could even hear one of them in front of him. They were surrounding them.

Isaac glanced around them and sighted the outlines of the wolves. They were almost upon them.

"It's no use, we have to fight them!" Isaac yelled at Mia.

"I can barely see them!" Mia shouted back, fear echoing in her voice.

"We have to try, we don't have a choice!"

Isaac and Mia slid to a stop and instinctively moved their bodies against each other back-to-back, watching from all directions. Isaac reached down to his side, slid his sword out of its scabbard and held it out in front of himself. He felt Mia behind him quickly unbuckle her staff from the band around her waist and shift into a similar stance.

The growling quietened down, leaving behind an ominous silence.

"They're coming," whispered Mia.

Isaac's fearfully eyes traced the silhouettes of the four shadows in the fog, menacingly staring straight back at them.

_There are too many; without Ivan and Garet will we be able to make it?_

The wolves silently circled Isaac and Mia, cautiously judging their prey's hastily set up defence. Suddenly, with a horrifying speed, the wolves all struck as one.

Widening, instinctually taking in all the information they could, Isaac's eyes followed the animals dashing towards them and, using his reflexes sharpened from his journey, plunged his sword into the stomach of the closest beast. It gurgled, the life streaming out of its eyes.

"Spire!" yelled Isaac almost simultaneously, calling down his earthen psynergy upon other wolf. However, he was a split second too late, the wolf managing to sink it's fangs into his shoulder just before it was struck. The wolf was violently smashed off his shoulder, but it did not loosen its vice-like bite, tearing muscle as it was flung off. Wordlessly, Isaac sunk to the ground, gritting his teeth as the razor-sharp pain rippled through his arm. He felt cold splashes of water down his back as rain began falling down from the sky.

"Ice!" he heard Mia cry out behind him, raining down the psynergetic shards into the flesh of the two wolves attacking from her side. Yelping in pain and surprise, they briefly recoiled before viscously redoubling their attack, lunging at her. Mia screamed as the wolves attacked together, overpowering her. Mia's scream cut through Isaac's foggy mind.

_Mia..._

Isaac struggled, forcing himself to ignore the pain in his shoulder and lifted his good arm. He focused together his psynergy.

"Earthquake!" he exclaimed.

The soaked ground shook, the muddy earth moving like fluid in the rain under his influence. The wolves reacted instantly, jumping backwards in surprise. Mia took advantage of their surprise.

"Tundra!" she declared, lashing her staff point in the wolves' direction. The freezing cold spell struck the animals head-on, sending them tumbling backwards.

The three injured wolves slowly rose, glaring cautiously at Isaac and Mia, re-evaluating the situation. Isaac and Mia stared straight back, breathing heavily. Eventually, one of the wolves gave a frustrated howl and backed away into the rain, the other two following suit.

Mia sighed heavily, dropped her staff and sunk into the mud beside Isaac.

"That was... too close..." she murmured.

"Yeah..." Isaac replied, before wincing in pain as his shoulder sent another wave of agony through his arm. Mia whipped around, just noticing his injury.

"Isaac! You're bleeding everywhere!" she half-shrieked, covering her mouth with her hands in shock. "I'll heal you right away!"

Mia raised her arms, her exhaustion from a few moments ago forgotten out of her concern for Isaac. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Blue light began streaming out of her palms and Isaac felt a cool soothing feeling wash over him, invigorating him.

_Just like the first time I met her..._

Isaac gazed up to her face, quietly appraising her beautiful, compassionate features as she focused on his shoulder; it was the same caring expression she had as she cured the old man back in Imil. Isaac sighed blissfully, feeling the agony in his shoulder recede.

The cool rain lightly fell down, gradually soaking the pair of them, surrounding themselves in Mia's element. Strands of Mia's long, wet hair were splayed down her pale face. Completely indifferent to the rain and cold Mia continued working on Isaac's injury, completely focused. Isaac felt Mia's psynergy course through him; he felt as if he was floating, cool euphoric waves washing over him. Isaac slowly closed his eyes, feeling relaxed by Mia's very presence.

And then it was over. Mia slowly opened her eyes as the blue light faded away. Isaac stared at his arm in amazement, his skin as smooth as if it had never been torn.

"Try not to overwork it, okay?" asked Mia. "It may look fine, but I couldn't completely repair all of the internal injuries. Just give it a little time to heal fully and it should be fine."

"Thanks," said Isaac, gently rolling his shoulder, appraising her work.

"It's no problem," responded Mia, smiling kindly.

Isaac smiled back thankfully. They held each other's gaze for a while, crouching there in the wet smiling at each other. Then a cold blast of wind struck the pair of them, pulling them back to reality. Isaac jumped up, remembering the situation they were both in.

"Garet! Ivan!" yelled out Isaac, uselessly hoping that they would hear him over the downpour.

"Isaac, maybe we should just find some shelter for now and look for them when the weather clears up," suggested Mia. "The chance of finding them now is slim and we'd probably just make ourselves sick trying."

She shivered slightly, the cold finally getting to her.

Isaac nodded, seeing the logic behind her words. "You're right, let's find some shelter."

* * *

The rain pummelled down overhead. Isaac and Mia silently huddled close to a large tree, finding shelter under its thick, dense foliage. The fog had completely disappeared, easily blown away by the storm. It was dark, the thick bulky rainclouds overhead completely hiding the evening moon from sight. Beside him, wet and cold, Mia was shivering. Isaac glanced a look at her small, quivering figure and felt a deep protective feeling well up inside him. He pulled himself closer to her, moved his hands up to his neck and pulled off his scarf.

"Here, take this," he murmured, proffering the yellow scarf to Mia.

Mia shook her head.

"I-I can't take t-that, Isaac..." she stuttered back, her teeth chattering so much she could barely speak.

"I won't take no for an answer," responded Isaac. He then proceeded to wrap his scarf around her neck regardless. Mia resisted slightly, but her efforts were only half-hearted. Before long, she was leaning back against the tree with Isaac's scarf around her neck. It was still warm from Isaac's body heat.

_Weren't you going to focus only on your mission? What about Jenna? Kraden? You said yourself it was your fault they were taken._

Isaac shook his head, trying to reason with himself.

_I'm just trying to keep her warm! What's wrong with that?_

However, Isaac couldn't help but feel his actions were self-contradictory with what he had got angry with Garet at that same morning.

"Thanks..." Mia muttered, looking down at her feet.

"It's no problem," Isaac replied.

Mia continued to stare quietly at her feet for a few more moments before turning to face Isaac.

"Isaac... when we were first chased by the wolves, I dropped my bags back in that forest," Mia whispered softly. "I'm pretty useless, aren't I?"

Isaac glanced at her again, realising for the first time that she didn't have any of her luggage with her.

"No you're not, Mia! How can you even say anything like that?" exclaimed Isaac, surprised at how quick she was put herself down.

"You're just trying to make me feel better, Isaac, but I know I am... If I hadn't been so useless in that fight with the wolves, you wouldn't have had to save me. If I wasn't so useless I'd have been able to find a cure myself for the villagers in Imil. If I wasn't so useless as a teacher, then Alex wouldn't have run away..."

Isaac stared at Mia in amazement, witnessing a totally different side of the carefree, innocent girl he thought he knew. The girl he saw now was insecure, unconfident, and almost even self-hating. To Isaac, this felt just wrong. These were all the things that Mia shouldn't be.

"You aren't useless, Mia! What are you talking about!?" Isaac burst out. "I could never have healed my arm as well as you just did! What about your cooking? All me, Garet and Ivan had before we met you was salted meat, dried fruits and bread! All those things you're blaming yourself for; they're not your fault!"

_For now, I have to put everything else aside. Mia needs my help._

"You really think that?" murmured Mia, gazing up at him with her large, aquamarine eyes.

"I really do. Look, tomorrow we'll try to trace back our steps," reassured Isaac encouragingly. "Even though Ivan had the only map, we can probably guess where we are when it becomes brighter. When we find them, we'll try heading back to Bilibin. That should be where Garet and Ivan would also try heading back to."

Mia gave Isaac a weak smile but concern still showed across her face.

"Mia, are you alright?" asked Isaac. "Is anything else the matter?"

Mia started staring at her feet again. Isaac noticed she was fiddling with the hem of her dress.

"I'm worried," Mia eventually murmured softly. "Garet and Ivan are still out there. Neither of them are any good at healing, if something were to happen to them..."

Isaac again was taken aback. Here they were, lost in the wilderness with only half their normal amount of supplies between them and she was still thinking of the welfare of others. Isaac recalled how she had initially refused his scarf when she was so obviously colder than he was. How far could one person value the lives and concerns of others above her own?

Again, that same overwhelming desire to protect Mia flooded his chest.

"Mia... it'll be okay," Isaac murmured comfortingly. "I'm sure everyone's fine."

Isaac slowly moved his arm around her huddled figure, offering his support. He felt her briefly tense up at his touch before relaxing and then leaning into him, accepting him. Isaac gave her a small smile. He was worried about the others as well, but for now Mia needed him.

Isaac couldn't stop thinking in disbelief that he was actually holding Mia in his arms. Her fragile her figure felt so small, so delicate. He ran a hand tenderly through her hair, amazed at how silky it was. Mia sighed softly and leaned further into him. Together, Isaac and Mia silently sat through the rainy evening.

After a while, the rain began to ease. Isaac gave serious thought to just remaining as they were, but practicality took priority.

"We should try getting a campfire going, Mia," Isaac spoke up.

Mia nodded slowly. As they separated Mia turned around, facing him.

"Thank you, Isaac," she whispered, pure sincerity and gratitude lighting up her face.

Isaac smiled, simply happy he was able to help her feel better.

* * *

The rain had really penetrated through the forest. Isaac was unable to find any dry firewood in the sodden woodland; not that he really felt it mattered. Mia's face kept throwing itself into his mind, her grateful words replaying themselves over again and again.

_Thank you, Isaac..._

Isaac found himself unable to stop smiling, a warm, inflated feeling filling his chest. Isaac tried looking around a little more but eventually gave up, accepting that the storm had left nothing dry. He strode back to the tree he had left Mia at.

"No luck," he stated. "Everything's completely sodden."

"I guess we'll have to bear the cold a little tonight," replied Mia.

"Well, we should try getting some sleep at least."

"But what should we do about the night watch now?" Mia questioned. "With only the two of us, watching for danger at night would make us far too tired during the day."

"I guess we'll have to stop looking out during the night," suggested Isaac, considering the question.

"Do you really think we'll be alright?" Mia asked, worried.

"It was only a precaution in the first place," explained Isaac. "We never have been attacked by anything at night before, but it did give us all a peace of mind while we slept. However, I don't think it's a luxury we can manage now."

Mia considered for a few moments and then nodded her head.

"I guess you're right," she agreed. Then she shivered suddenly. "It's a shame you couldn't find any dry firewood," she murmured, rubbing her shoulders.

"We should set up camp at least," suggested Isaac. "It'll be warm in the tents."

"Good idea," agreed Mia, nodding her head once.

Isaac began opening up his bags to take out his tent when he realised something. Slowly he turned and faced Mia, who seemed to have realised the same thing.

"Your tent..." Isaac began.

"... was in the bags I dropped," finished Mia.

There was a moment of awkward silence as they both realised the implications of that simple statement.

"You sleep in my tent, I'll sleep outside," declared Isaac.

"No! You'll freeze!" exclaimed Mia. "Besides, it was me who dropped my bags, if anyone had to sleep outside-"

"No!" Isaac shot back. "You said it yourself; you'll freeze!"

There was another awkward silence.

"Well... I guess we could sleep in the same tent," suggested Isaac, a red tinge running up his neck.

"T-that sounds logical..." Mia replied, stumbling over her words.

"So, um... let's get the tent ready," muttered Isaac nervously.

"O-okay..."

Isaac and Mia began unfolding the tent. Mia then began pulling up one of the supports that held up the tent while Isaac hammered the stakes attached to the guy-ropes into the ground. Isaac avoided eye contact with Mia the whole time while setting up the tent, feeling far too awkward to directly interact with her.

Finally after what felt like ages, the tent was ready. Isaac reached down to open it but Mia had done the same thing and their hands bumped together. Blushes ran up both their faces, and they recoiled.

"Y-you go in first," stammered Isaac, still unable to make eye contact with Mia.

"S-sure," Mia replied, equally nervous.

"Here... since you don't your own clothes with you," mumbled Isaac, retrieving a spare pair of his pyjamas and holding them out to Mia. "You can get changed in there while I'll get changed out here. You can't possibly try going to sleep in those wet clothes."

"Thanks," murmured Mia, taking Isaac's pyjamas before retreating inside the tent.

Isaac quickly got changed into his pyjamas. Then he politely waited outside the tent for Mia to finish.

"You can come in now," called out Mia.

"O-okay," replied Isaac nervously. He felt as if his body had frozen up, but he pushed himself forward.

Isaac entered the dark tent, slowly feeling his way around before moving into the space in the left side of the tent that Mia had left for him. Highly self-conscious of his movements, Isaac pulled himself up beside Mia and slide under the single blanket.

There was an awkward silence between the two of them as they quietly lied where they were. The tent that had seemed fairly roomy before now felt small and cramped. In the end, it had been only designed for one person.

"Isaac?" Mia whispered, suddenly breaking the silence.

"Y-yeah?"

"I... just wanted to thank you again for today. I haven't had anyone I could lean on for a long time."

Isaac briefly recalled how Mia had no older family members back in Imil and how had been always up to her to keep the villagers healthy.

_It really must have been tough..._

"Mia... it was no problem at all. I'll always be around if you ever need someone, okay?"

In the dark, Mia smiled softly to herself.

"Thank you, Isaac."

* * *

**Author note:** Yup, using my mystical author powers I have finally managed to progress the storyline using the _weather_. Bah...

And now for some messages:

**Firstly:** _Massive, leviathan-sized apologies_ _to FelixEarth on dA_. I hope you're happy with the new chapter!

He's drawing a mudshipping manga based on this fic and my constant procrastinating would have _definitely_ slowed down his updates. So... yeah. Sorry about that.

Feel free to look him up, it's great stuff!

**Secondly:** Sorry to the readers in general. I waited _far_ too long between updates.

**Thirdly:** Thorhammer! Now that I've officially published it, I think the answer to your question "Why in the world are we so obsessed with Mia in a nightgown?!?!?!?" is quite simply because it's _really_ easy to add fanservice.

Sorry, I know you were hoping for a fic that did things differently, but I had already sort of written it in and found myself _strangely unable_ to write it out. Your search for a nightgown-less mudshipping fic will have to continue.

*awaits darksidepoint*

**Fourthly: **As much as I may resist, rant on and get frustrated over this fic, in the end it's a pretty fun story to write. I hope everyone enjoyed the update! ^^


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